Not many in India can boast of the wonderful record of Olympic Gold Quest in terms of promotion of outstanding talent. So, it was not a big surprise for all those who follow its activities when it proudly announced that 14 athletes, supported by London Olympics Gold Quest, have secured qualification for the ‘Mother of all battles'.
What is more relevant for the sports-friendly Hyderabadis is the fact that ace shooter Gagan Narang, India's biggest medal hope in badminton Saina Nehwal and the highly talented shuttler Parupalli Kashyap figure in this elite group who will be the medal-hopes in the London Olympics starting from July 27.
The list of athletes who figure in this list are:
Athletics: Vikas Gowda (discus), O. P. Singh (shotput), Tintu Luka (800 m).
Badminton: Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap.
Boxing: Mary Kom (51kg), Devendro Singh (49kg), Shiva Thapa (56kg) and Manoj Kumar (64kg).
Shooting: Gagan Narang and Sanjeev Rajput (Rifle), Vijay Kumar and Annu Raj Singh (Pistol) and Shagun Chowdhary (trap).
Interestingly, Gold Quest informs that two more archers - Rahul Banerjee and Tarundeep Rai – will be aiming to join the above group in the recurve category with a special performance in the USA World Cup later this month.
